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I'm considering purchasing a home, and given todays market I've been viewing a lot of foreclosures and short sales. That being said, I have a question on short sale VS foreclosure in terms of legal liability from purchasing a home which I'm having trouble finding an answer to.

It seems like the legality of many foreclosures is up in the air due to this robo-signing scandal and in a worse case scenario if I were to purchase a foreclosure the previous owner could one day have me kicked out due to a claim that they were illegally foreclosed on.

That being said, is it legally safer to purchase a short sale as opposed to a foreclosure? My logic here is that it is since a short sale involves the original owner actively participating in the sale as opposed to a foreclosure where the owner is forced to move out and loses ownership of the property.

Dave
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I have to agree with you. On the short sale, it's clear the owner is gone.

But - On a great foreclosure deal, so long as you have a legitimate title company offering title insurance, the risk should be acceptable.

JoeTaxpayer
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